Just My Way, of Saying That I Love You
by Kalico37
Summary: Sitting backstage, 30 minutes before his biggest, most important show to date, Drake sits back to reflect on the people that backed him no matter what, and the one person that stood at the front of the pack for him the whole time through. Rated T because that's my thing.
1. Fans

**DISCLAIMER: ********I do not own Drake and Josh or any original characters/locations/etc. from the show. I do lay claim to the plot, in all it's anxiety...**

**3rd project in as many months! I hope you enjoy what's to come with this one :)**

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Another night, another show.

Or maybe not just another show. Nah, I guess tonight is pretty special. I've been away from San Diego for about a year now, on tour for my first record, and tonight is my first show back in all that time.

I won't lie, I'm feeling pretty nervous now. I've still got a little over 30 minutes until I have to go out on stage, and it's _not moving_ very fast at all. Even though it's still a while to go, I can hear them all, out there. Yelling _my _name. I mean, that's crazy! Half an hour to go? The place shouldn't even be full yet.

Sometimes, it still feels incredible, that I made it this far on my own. Actually, that's not fair. There's no way that I could have done this on my own.

This music business is tough, and I can remember all the times when I came close to giving up completely. And I don't just mean that wack first deal I signed with Spin City, there's been a lot more than that to it…

So, let's just say it's been a ride. But I sure as hell wasn't on my own. Come to think of it, I actually had more help on my side than I thought. For one thing, I've got all those people standing out in the audience, all the fans, old and new. I do this for them. Not just for them, but they are a big part of it. And when I knew that, I guess I knew that I had to keep going. That I wanted to keep going.

"Hey, Drake," a crew member calls through my door, "30 minutes, yeah?"

"Sure, man."

I hear him walk off, and I gotta say, it makes me think. 30 minutes. 30 more minutes until I'm back where it all started for me. It's feels like it's just yesterday I played my first big show at this same arena. God, I even had to go begging and borrow money from my girlfriend's parents to pay for it, which she has no problem teasing me about even now. But don't worry, I more than paid them back after that. Getting noticed by a label guy and signing a new big deal can be helpful like that.

Yeah, I remember that show and the crowd. I can see all the faces in my head now. All those fans that were behind me when I was still in high school, when I wasn't Drake Parker, the worldwide-famous musician. Back when I was just Drake Parker, the cocky, slacker musician. I'm proud of the fact that, by now, I know most of them well. But whether they were family, friends, people that I just knew by name, or randoms that came to a show and popped up at every one since then, they all supported me by being there and cheering every time I strummed a chord or stepped up to the mic.

That's a pretty cool feeling, now that I think about it.

Maybe I should space out backstage more often.

So, let's see. The fans. Yeah, they're definitely a big part of why I do this. To entertain them, and make them feel good. Because when they're screaming my name, or dancing along to something I've written, or clapping their hands high above their head, that's pretty special.

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**First chapter down in this subconscious trip. This project is really mellow, something to keep the lights on between my ears, and something to chill with before I get heavily involved with my big Warehouse 13 follow-up to "Fractures" further down the track. Check out my profile page for further updates.**

**In the meantime, fire away with your feedback, if you like :) I won't judge if you don't.**


	2. Family

**Another chapter to this story. Enjoy :)**

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_TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK…._

Well, it looks like this time isn't going any faster. I've still got 20-something minutes to go, and I'm getting more and more bored by the second. I fiddle with one of my acoustic guitars, I run over the setlist for tonight in my head, I go over to the fridge and grab some water, but this is still annoying to wait for. That's just the way it is.

It's funny, though. It makes me think about being a teenager. I was never bored then, except for a few times. But the point is, I always had something to do, or something would happen to keep me busy. Like when Megan would superglue Josh's hand to his face or something like that. It helped me because then I had something to do, like laugh at Josh for a bit, and get around to helping him when he started yelling at me.

Those years were some of the best, and I owe heaps to my family. Megan, when she wasn't trying to kill us, could actually be pretty cool….and then she'd just go back to trying to kill us again. I remember the times she gave me little bits of advice here and there, and all the times way back, when it was just the two of us and our mom.

I'm proud of her now. She's in college now, doing well, and could even graduate with highest honours if she keeps it up. Just like Josh did, and just like I didn't. I actually went to college for a bit, but it just didn't feel right for me, so I dropped out and focused on releasing music by myself.

But Josh, he was easily the one that was on track. He was always studying, always staying smart, even if he was a bit goofy and awkward back then. Yeah, he's working as a science teacher now, at Belleview, our old high school. I always knew good things would happen for him, and I was right, wasn't I?

My parents? Well, what can I really say? They were always around, Mom especially. After our dad left us back when I was still a kid, she never stopped caring for me, or Megan. Both Mom and Walter were cool when I told them I was dropping out of college to focus on music, and I saw how proud they were when I told them about my big record deal.

I just hope my family all know how proud I am of them. They gave me what I needed to get where I am today, and I'm really glad they did, or who knows where I could have ended up.

I hate getting real emotional, especially before a show, but I can let it slide for them. My family was there when I was going through a whole mess of trouble these past years, and they're another part of the reason I do this.

_TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK….._

"15 minutes!" I hear from outside my door. Well then. 15 minutes to go.

I'll be staying in San Diego a few days after tonight's show, so I can catch up with everyone that I haven't seen in ages. I also have some…special business to go over with my girlfriend's parents.

Or maybe I should say my fiancé.

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**I wonder if you saw that coming. I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist when I was planning the story! I had to have him in a proper relationship, because that allows me to put a slightly more introspective, "glad-to-be-here" spin on his character. And it gives this storyline more meaning. R&R as you please, and you can s****tay tuned by checking for updates on my profile page :)**


	3. Fiancé

**Hmm, fiancé? Well well, all will be revealed in this final installment...**

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My fiancé.

Yeah, I know, but it's fair enough that I should tie it up with her. Aside from all the fans, friends and family, she was the one who I could count on to pull me up to where I am now. She supported me, in more ways than one.

For one thing, it was her parents that helped me pay for the show where I got noticed, but that doesn't really matter now.

What matters, is that all those times where I felt like raging on music and walking away, she was there. Before I thought of the fans, friends, or even my family, she would be the first one on my mind.

God, I can sit back in this chair backstage and laugh about it now, all those years ago when I'd just be chasing anything in a skirt. Actually, that's how this relationship started in the first place. Yeah, she was all soft, drunk and weak after getting dumped by some loser, and I was looking for something to cap off the night. So I flirted, she bought it, and I went home with her. Another one night stand on the board. Except that nothing actually happened. I thought she really was insane when she said she didn't want to do it, but I let it go anyway. After all, she still let me sleep with her.

I tried to get out of there early, but she busted me. She was a little pissed, but she said that she expected as much, and asked me to stay for breakfast anyway. That was probably when I started asking myself what the hell I had gotten into. But that wasn't even the weird part. The weird part happened when she started being all nice to me, apologising for whatever and telling me what she'd been up to in the last few years, like we were a couple of old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while. When that happened, I just felt like running, because when we were just sitting there, in her apartment, in the morning, talking, laughing, and eating, I could feel myself pulling towards her.

It's like one of those cheesy-ass romance-comedy movies that are always flooding the box office every month. You know, where a guy meets the unlikely girl who pulls him onto the right track? It was a bit like that, except it took me heaps longer to figure out what was going on. That time it took for me to figure out what I wanted was a real grind, for her as much as me, and I know that because, well, she told me.

So we had a break, just to get it together. It wasn't a long break, maybe a few days, but that was all the time I needed to realise what I wanted was to be with her.

It's really different, a relationship and a three-week-fling. Maybe, I could've seen it as an extended fling and bounced, but time's changed things. It made me and her different people than we were all those years ago. So I called her, and it just built up from there.

Of course things get hard, but we haven't had the worst hit us yet, so why shouldn't we enjoy things now? I proposed a few weeks ago, and I could tell that she wasn't expecting it at all, with my reputation, but that really didn't matter when she said yes.

We were probably the last two people anyone would've expected to get together, and here we are tonight. I'm sitting here backstage, spacing out to the max, about to kick off the biggest show of my life, and she was probably coming to get me now so I could go out. So I'll just keep waiting, until-

"Drake?" Well, it's not a crew member. I look up at her smiling face, and I smile in return as I get up from my chair. We walk towards each other, and meet with a quick kiss.

"Hey, Mindy."

She leans close to my ear, and whispers, "Ready to head out?"

I put my arm around her shoulders in reply as we walk out the door. "Thought you'd never ask."

It's about now that I can enjoy all this. All the excitement of heading to the stage, shaking off the nerves, it all comes together in these final few moments. At stage left, I can see the crowd, all screaming and shouting and moving to the beat being played by the band.

It's here that I quickly kiss Mindy again. "I'll see you in a bit!" I have to shout, because it's that loud. She just grins proudly in response as I run out onto the stage.

For the fans, for my family, for my fiancé, I'm singing it for them all.

"That's just my way, of saying that I love you!"

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**I honestly have no idea if you expected all that. If you follow my updates on my profile (yeah right) then you would know that the D/M ship is my favourite one for this series. **

**So that's that for this short project. I hope those of you that have read have enjoyed, and I should make it clear that I'll be staying away from D&J writing for the near future. I'm going to be embarking on a project for RWBY and a _big _follow-up to my Warehouse 13 story. If that's not what you're into, then I guess I'll encounter you again when I start work on the Hangin' Around sequel in time!**

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_**"That's just my way, of saying that I love you!"**_


End file.
